What a great day was had by Kernow CAMRA members on our trip around the South of Cornwall Wetherspoon pubs.

We all made our way from around the county of Cornwall and met at The Tremenheere in Penzance. Where we were met by our hosts for the day Martin, the manager at Wetherspoon in Camborne and Dave, a manager from Penzance Wetherspoon. The Tremenheere is a traditional Wetherspoon pub on the main street of Penzance and close to the site of the 17th Century Tremenheere family mansion. As we entered the pub there was a large display showing details of the most recent beer festival. We were delighted to see the varied range of beers available for us to try. I would also like to mention that one of my favourite's was available Jail Ale from Dartmoor brewery alongside some local ales including Cornish Chough’s Cadgwith Crabber. We stayed at the pub for around an hour and were made to feel very welcome, then we left to get onto the coach that had been arranged by Wetherspoon to pick us all up and to take us on to our next location, The Hain Line in St Ives.

Part of the upstairs of The Hain Line had been reserved for our group and to our delight the brewer from Exmoor brewery had four boxes of beer for us to try including Ale, Gold, their seasonal beer Antler and Beast which I also like, however not too much early in the day. Ryan the manager of The Hain Line had arranged for us all to have fish burgers and chips for lunch which was very nice and went well with the Exmoor beers. In 1850s Captain Edward Hain build a small fleet of sailing ships and the premises of the new Hain Line Wetherspoon was once Hain shipping office and Hain estate office.

After lunch we got back on the coach to travel to the John Francis Bassett, Camborne. This is a very large, open plan, impressive pub in the centre of Camborne. Camborne is best known as a centre for the former Cornish tin and copper mining industry which is the theme of the pub. Camborne and Redruth district became the richest mining area in the world in the late 18th century. This was also once the old Berkeley Centre club where I frequented occasionally in my younger days and the building has Grade 11 listed status. Again there was a great range of beers available including a selection from Harbour, Sharps, Cornish Crown and Conwy Breweries. The manager generously gave us a complementary beer from the vast range.

We then moved on to our next location and the newest addition to the Wetherspoon family The Coinage Hall, Helston. The pub is spread over several levels with an impressive staircase and fire place at the back of the building. There is also a large outside area at the top of the building, great for the summer which is on its way! We were again looked after by the Wetherspoon staff with a complimentary beer of our choice and friendly service from Neil a manager, who also took the time to show us around the building.

The Falmouth Packet in Falmouth was our next stop and it is conveniently positioned opposite the main bus station and a great place for the coach to stop. Again great beers available including Granite Rocks, Bronescombe’s Vision and we were given a pint of Exmoor Ale. It was great to see a map of the Wetherspoon pubs in Cornwall which also showed the CAMRA and Locale logos. This is again an impressive granite building split over two levels. In 1688 Falmouth become a packet station for the post office and port for handling overseas mail.

Our last stop on our Weatherspoon's day out was the Try Dower, Truro and Truro is the old Cornish word for three rivers. We were treated to dinner with lots of sharer platters and Paninis with chips and dips. The Try Dower is located close to the centre of Truro and opposite the bus station which is a must for all us CAMRA members as we heavily rely on public transport to get us around Cornwall.

We were very grateful for the generosity of Wetherspoon team for a well organised and enjoyable day, on behalf of all Kernow CAMRA members who attended we would like to say thank you very much.